"Who do you think Ryuuen would help if he came?" Lezheng spread his hands.
Manabe and the others weren't afraid of punishment from the school, but they were afraid of Ryuuen.
"He wouldn't necessarily help you even if he came," Manabe said, her voice growing quieter.
"What? Want to bet?"
"N-no need." Yamashita knew Lezheng had dealings with Ryuuen, so she was scared.
"You'd better behave, or I can add more charges against you, if you don't want to be expelled." Lezheng pulled Karuizawa out of his arms and had her stand properly. "Now that I'm done with them, it's your turn. Why didn't you apologize after knocking Morofushi over in the cake shop?"
"I... I did... apologize," Karuizawa sobbed.
"Was that any way to apologize?"
"I'm sorry, okay?"
"Don't apologize to me. You were the cause of all this."
Karuizawa bowed to Morofushi and apologized awkwardly.
"You can go back now. The school will issue its verdict later. Exchange contact information with me, all of you. I'll be responsible for notifying you."
Manabe and the others left after exchanging contact information with Lezheng. Only Karuizawa remained, clutching her phone and hesitating to speak.
"You're still here?" Lezheng gave her a puzzled look.
"I..." Karuizawa looked as though she wanted to say something but was too embarrassed.
"Say whatever you want to say. It's just the two of us now."
"I'd like you to be my 'boyfriend.' A fake one." Karuizawa's face flushed a little.
"But I barely know you, and I don't like you either. Why bring this up all of a sudden?"
"I'm afraid something like this will happen again, so..."
"So you're looking for protection?"
"Yes." Karuizawa nodded.
"I can offer you protection, but not as your boyfriend. In exchange, I'll need you to pay me in Private Points or information about Class D."
"I agree!"
Lezheng had thought Karuizawa would take a few days to think it over, but the girl answered instantly. It seemed Manabe and the others had really left her traumatized.
"Wait. I'll record a video as evidence." Lezheng raised his phone and opened the camera to record.
"Give me a moment." Karuizawa turned away and took a tissue from her pocket to wipe her face.
"All right, let's start."
"Stand a little closer."
"I, Lezheng Youyan... I, Karuizawa Kei..."
At night, on the moonlit deck, two teenagers stood side by side and made a verbal agreement to the phone's camera.
"From now on, you can tell people you're my younger cousin, but don't volunteer it. Act reluctant for a while before telling them." After a moment's thought, Lezheng decided to disguise their relationship as that of cousins.
"Okay, cousin." Karuizawa adapted quickly.
"Come on. I'll walk you back."
Fortunately, Chuteng Rika hadn't used much force. Apart from some redness and swelling around Karuizawa's eyes, she had no other marks.
As for the recorded statements from Manabe and the others, Lezheng intended to watch what they did next before deciding what to do. He had already warned Karuizawa not to be so rude to people in the future.
On the first day after the Deserted Island exam ended, most students in each class had gone from being exhausted to excitedly enjoying themselves.
The swimming area.
Lezheng was playing water volleyball with the other girls from Class A. At the whistle, Guhara Mao jumped up to serve. Hashimoto brought his hands together and blocked the ball into the air. Lezheng jumped up and hit it back, and Kamuro returned it...
For certain reasons, Totsuka couldn't get in the water, so he had voluntarily taken on the role of referee at the poolside.
"Tweet! Lezheng committed a hand-contact foul. One point to the red team."
"Sorry, Morishita. Is your hand okay?"
During their fierce scramble for the ball at the net, Lezheng had accidentally struck Morishita's hand while hitting the ball.
"It's fine." Morishita waved it off without concern.
After that little interruption, the match continued. Based on Lezheng's observations,
Morishita's athletic performance ranked among the best of Class A's girls. Yahara was slightly weaker than her, while Kamuro was at the very top.
Among the boys, those with outstanding athletic ability included himself, Katsuragi, Hashimoto, and Kito.
Judging the Special Exams by the season, he figured the next Special Exam would most likely be a sports festival.
But that prediction was overturned that evening.
"Students, please check the email inboxes on your phones. The school has sent each of you an email. Please make sure you read it," a voice announced over the loudspeaker.
The Class A students, who were eating together, all took out their phones to check.
"I'm in 207," Lezheng said, the first to announce his room number.
"What a coincidence. So am I." Katsuragi held his phone out in front of Lezheng.
"Why am I not with you? How did the school make these assignments?" Hashimoto sounded a little disappointed.
The atmosphere in Room 207 was somewhat tense.
Katsuragi and Lezheng from Class A, Kanzaki from Class B, Ryuuen from Class C, and Horikita, Hirata, and Kushida from Class D-the prominent figures of all four classes had gathered in this room.
After confirming that everyone was present, the staff member who had been waiting began announcing the rules.
VIP Exam rules: The four classes would be mixed and divided into twelve groups of thirteen to fourteen students, with one VIP in each group. The exam would last four days, with two hour-long meetings each day. There were two ways to submit answers: reporting the VIP early or answering together at the end. VIPs could not submit answers.
Four outcomes:
Outcome one: If everyone outside the VIP's class answered correctly in the final vote, everyone would receive 500,000 Private Points, and the VIP would receive 1,000,000. Class Points would remain unchanged.
Outcome two: If anyone answered incorrectly in the final vote, only the VIP would receive 500,000 Private Points.
Outcome three: If an early report was correct, the reporting student's class would receive +50 Class Points, and the VIP's class 50.
Outcome four: If an early report was incorrect, the reporting student's class would receive 50 Class Points, and the VIP's class +50.
Reports submitted by students in the VIP's class would be invalid.
"The school will send the emails to your inboxes at eight o'clock sharp tomorrow morning."
"Finding the mole? Interesting. Lezheng, which outcome do you think is best?" Ryuuen chuckled.
"Outcome one obviously offers the greatest return, but I choose outcome three,"
Lezheng answered.
"Hahaha! You're much more interesting than they are." Ryuuen laughed, leaning back in his chair and putting his feet straight onto the table. "Then you'd all better look out for yourselves."
"I think we still need to cooperate."
Back in the room where the four of them slept, Katsuragi voiced his thoughts.
Whether Mashima had arranged it deliberately or not, all four of them were leaders of their respective groups. Since Sakayanagi was absent, Hashimoto was temporarily acting in her place.
"Exactly what I had in mind," Takimura agreed.
"Sure." Lezheng and Hashimoto exchanged a glance.
"No matter which side has a VIP tomorrow, we need to share that information. But apart from the VIPs themselves and us, it would be best not to let the other students know."
At five past eight the next morning, after Lezheng and the others exchanged information, Class A's VIPs were identified as Motodoi Chikako, Tsukaji Shiori, and Guhara Mao.
"What connection is there between them?" Takimura pondered.
"Could all the VIPs be girls?" Hashimoto noticed one detail.
"That's a pattern too," Katsuragi agreed.
"That's the only thing we've found in common so far. Let's keep thinking." Lezheng was thinking too.
Before you continue